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Turkish Scholar Freed After Two-Month Arrest In Armenia
By Emil Danielyan and Ruzanna Khachatrian
RFE/RL - YEREVAN, 08/16/2005: Yektan Turkyilmaz, a Turkish scholar
who was arrested in Armenia two months ago, walked free from a court
in Yerevan on Tuesday after being given a two-year suspended prison
sentence for attempting to illegally take old Armenian books out of
the country.
The court in the city's Malatia-Sebastia district convicted Turkyilmaz
of two counts of smuggling but chose not to imprison him at the
last-minute request of state prosecutors that cited his partial
acknowledgement of his guilt and cooperation with investigators. The
doctoral student of the U.S. Duke University will have to stay in
Armenia until the verdict's formal entry into force on August 31. He
will then be free to leave the country and visit it again.
"I'm now free, right?" an incredulous Turkyilmaz asked journalists
that surrounded him immediately after the announcement of the ruling.
"I am happy to be free," he said after hearing a positive answer. "I
now want to concentrate on my doctoral dissertation. I was, I am and
I will remain a friend of the Armenians."
The presiding judge, Karen Farkhoyan, also upheld the confiscation of
88 secondhand Armenian books which Turkyilmaz bought in Yerevan and
wanted to take with him to Istanbul. All of those books were published
more than 50 years ago, with four of them dating back to the 17th and
18th centuries. Under an Armenian law that took effect last January,
they can not be taken abroad without a written permission of the
Ministry of Culture.
Turkyilmaz had no such permission when customs and security officers
at Yerevan's Zvartnots airport found and confiscated those books on
June 17. Both during his arrest and throughout his short trial he
insisted that he was unaware of the requirement. Nonetheless, he was
charged under an article of Armenia's Criminal Code that envisages
between four and eight years' imprisonment for the contraband of
"cultural-historical values," narcotics and weapons.
"I believe that the accusations leveled against the defendant are
absolutely substantiated," the trial prosecutor, Koryun Piloyan,
said in his concluding remarks.
Piloyan dismissed the defendant's arguments that the books, most
of them relating to the activities of Armenian nationalist parties
in the Ottoman Empire, were needed for his doctoral studies at the
prestigious U.S. university. "I don't want to discuss his doctoral
dissertation or events that took place in Anatolia from 1908-38,"
he said. "We are investigating a criminal case regarding smuggling."
The prosecutor then cited "mitigating circumstances" such as
the defendant's young age and his "at least partly truthful court
testimony" to invoke another clause in the Criminal Code that envisages
largely symbolic prison sentences.
"I regret what happened and accept that as a result of my inconsistency
and indifference, I did not know legal requirements existing in the
Republic of Armenia and failed to obtain permission for the books
in a manner defined by the law," Turkyilmaz send in his final court
speech which he delivered in Armenian.
"As I said earlier, I never sought to violate the laws of the Republic
of Armenia or to cause any damage to the Republic of Armenia and the
Armenian people," he added. "I therefore ask the court to be forgiving
to myself and apply the softest possible punishment."
Turkyilmaz's release was welcomed by Orin Starn, a representative
of Duke University who attended the trial. "Duke University is very
pleased that Yektan has been given his freedom," Starn told RFE/RL.
"The books that Yektan collected were a reflection of his interest
in Armenia. I know that Yektan will do wonderful work that will help
us to understand the history of this region and the facts of the
Armenian genocide."
The Duke University president as well as over 200 U.S., Turkish
and Armenian scholars have sent open letters to President Robert
Kocharian calling for the release of their colleague. They said the
punishment initially sought by Armenian prosecutors is too strict and
unjustified. It is not clear if their protests have played a role
in the prosecutors' eventual decision not to seek the imprisonment
of the Turkish citizen of Kurdish origin. Officials in Kocharian's
press service could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Individuals accused of smuggling have rarely ended up in prison in
Armenia. This fact raised questions about reasons for the severity of
the charges brought against Turkyilmaz. The latter's interrogations by
officials from the National Security Service (NSS), which conducted
the pre-trial investigation into the case, reportedly focused on his
academic work and political beliefs.
The electronic copies of his research material collected at Armenia's
National Archive were also confiscated and closely examined by NSS
investigators. The Malatia-Sebastia court ordered them to return the
CDs to the scholar.
Turkyilmaz, who has repeatedly visited Armenia since 2003, became last
May the first Turkish national who asked for and was granted access
to the Armenian state archives. He said on Tuesday that despite his
two-month ordeal he wants to conduct more research at the archives
and may again visit them as early as this week.
"I have not yet finished my work there and am glad that I will stay
in Yerevan for 15 more days," Turkyilmaz told reporters. "I love
this city."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
By Emil Danielyan and Ruzanna Khachatrian
RFE/RL - YEREVAN, 08/16/2005: Yektan Turkyilmaz, a Turkish scholar
who was arrested in Armenia two months ago, walked free from a court
in Yerevan on Tuesday after being given a two-year suspended prison
sentence for attempting to illegally take old Armenian books out of
the country.
The court in the city's Malatia-Sebastia district convicted Turkyilmaz
of two counts of smuggling but chose not to imprison him at the
last-minute request of state prosecutors that cited his partial
acknowledgement of his guilt and cooperation with investigators. The
doctoral student of the U.S. Duke University will have to stay in
Armenia until the verdict's formal entry into force on August 31. He
will then be free to leave the country and visit it again.
"I'm now free, right?" an incredulous Turkyilmaz asked journalists
that surrounded him immediately after the announcement of the ruling.
"I am happy to be free," he said after hearing a positive answer. "I
now want to concentrate on my doctoral dissertation. I was, I am and
I will remain a friend of the Armenians."
The presiding judge, Karen Farkhoyan, also upheld the confiscation of
88 secondhand Armenian books which Turkyilmaz bought in Yerevan and
wanted to take with him to Istanbul. All of those books were published
more than 50 years ago, with four of them dating back to the 17th and
18th centuries. Under an Armenian law that took effect last January,
they can not be taken abroad without a written permission of the
Ministry of Culture.
Turkyilmaz had no such permission when customs and security officers
at Yerevan's Zvartnots airport found and confiscated those books on
June 17. Both during his arrest and throughout his short trial he
insisted that he was unaware of the requirement. Nonetheless, he was
charged under an article of Armenia's Criminal Code that envisages
between four and eight years' imprisonment for the contraband of
"cultural-historical values," narcotics and weapons.
"I believe that the accusations leveled against the defendant are
absolutely substantiated," the trial prosecutor, Koryun Piloyan,
said in his concluding remarks.
Piloyan dismissed the defendant's arguments that the books, most
of them relating to the activities of Armenian nationalist parties
in the Ottoman Empire, were needed for his doctoral studies at the
prestigious U.S. university. "I don't want to discuss his doctoral
dissertation or events that took place in Anatolia from 1908-38,"
he said. "We are investigating a criminal case regarding smuggling."
The prosecutor then cited "mitigating circumstances" such as
the defendant's young age and his "at least partly truthful court
testimony" to invoke another clause in the Criminal Code that envisages
largely symbolic prison sentences.
"I regret what happened and accept that as a result of my inconsistency
and indifference, I did not know legal requirements existing in the
Republic of Armenia and failed to obtain permission for the books
in a manner defined by the law," Turkyilmaz send in his final court
speech which he delivered in Armenian.
"As I said earlier, I never sought to violate the laws of the Republic
of Armenia or to cause any damage to the Republic of Armenia and the
Armenian people," he added. "I therefore ask the court to be forgiving
to myself and apply the softest possible punishment."
Turkyilmaz's release was welcomed by Orin Starn, a representative
of Duke University who attended the trial. "Duke University is very
pleased that Yektan has been given his freedom," Starn told RFE/RL.
"The books that Yektan collected were a reflection of his interest
in Armenia. I know that Yektan will do wonderful work that will help
us to understand the history of this region and the facts of the
Armenian genocide."
The Duke University president as well as over 200 U.S., Turkish
and Armenian scholars have sent open letters to President Robert
Kocharian calling for the release of their colleague. They said the
punishment initially sought by Armenian prosecutors is too strict and
unjustified. It is not clear if their protests have played a role
in the prosecutors' eventual decision not to seek the imprisonment
of the Turkish citizen of Kurdish origin. Officials in Kocharian's
press service could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Individuals accused of smuggling have rarely ended up in prison in
Armenia. This fact raised questions about reasons for the severity of
the charges brought against Turkyilmaz. The latter's interrogations by
officials from the National Security Service (NSS), which conducted
the pre-trial investigation into the case, reportedly focused on his
academic work and political beliefs.
The electronic copies of his research material collected at Armenia's
National Archive were also confiscated and closely examined by NSS
investigators. The Malatia-Sebastia court ordered them to return the
CDs to the scholar.
Turkyilmaz, who has repeatedly visited Armenia since 2003, became last
May the first Turkish national who asked for and was granted access
to the Armenian state archives. He said on Tuesday that despite his
two-month ordeal he wants to conduct more research at the archives
and may again visit them as early as this week.
"I have not yet finished my work there and am glad that I will stay
in Yerevan for 15 more days," Turkyilmaz told reporters. "I love
this city."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress